Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to electronic images. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to watermarking electronic images.
It has become increasingly commonplace for companies or individuals to offer images to customers. Because such entities desire to protect their investments in such images, there is a need to provide security with the images. This makes it more difficult for others to copy and resell the images or otherwise distribute them without permission. There is also a desire to identify the image owner for marketing purposes. By doing so, those who view the images will know where to obtain similar images.
One well-know method for identifying ownership of images and providing security is visible “watermarking.” Visible watermarking is a technique whereby a text string, such as a company name and/or copyright information, or a smaller image, such as a company logo, is placed on an image being protected. Various well-known techniques exist for adding a watermark to an image. One is to place the watermark over the original content of the image, thereby replacing a portion of the original image with the watermark. Another method is to place the watermark on the image with less than 100% opacity so that the original image content is still visible and is not completely obstructed by the watermark. In both of these cases, however, the watermark may obscure content, which is particularly disadvantageous when the image content is text, the meaning of which may be lost, even if only a small portion is obscured. For these and other reasons, improved solutions for placing watermarks on images are desirable.